Leave No Survivors: Difference between revisions

{{quote|"''Wipe this pathetic planet from the face of the galaxy!''"|'''[[Big Bad|Darth Malak]]''', ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Knights of the Old Republic]]''}}

 

 

Of course, if a [[Doomed Hometown]] suffers this fate, then it's more likely than not that the hero [[Genocide Backfire|escapes such a culling]] and goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]].

* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion|End Of Evangelion]]'', the [[Kaiju Defense Force|JSDF]] raid adopts this policy as they attempt a violent takeover of NERV.

* The first episode of ''[[Code Geass]] R2'' demonstrates the cruelly brutal efficiency of Britannian special forces by having them burn the bodies of the people they slaughtered (both Japanese and fellow Britannians)... even as some of the "bodies" are screaming, as they are not quite dead.

* In [[Claymore]], we have one the [[Big Bad]] ordering his [[Dragon]] to "annihilate Pieta. Basically, a place where no lifeforms exist whatsoever. That is what I want Pieta to become."

 

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]'': '''NO PRISONERS! ... NO PRISONERS!!''' By the titular protagonist, no less.

** In real life, he usually had his men take prisoners, but on one occasion, when ''really'' pissed off, told them, "The best of you brings me the most Turkish dead!"

* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]]''

{{quote| The White Witch: I have no interest in prisoners. Kill them all.}}

** Also, Aragorn himself tells the men to show no mercy, "because the enemy will show none"

*** "Release the prisoners"

* From the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' films:

** In the first film, of course, the cursed crew of the ''Black Pearl'' is famous for leaving no survivors.

** Also in ''At World's End'':

{{quote| '''Beckett:''' Signal Jones to give [[No Quarter]]. That should brighten his day.}}

** Not to mention the threat the heroes use to clear out the men guarding the castle gate on their way to rescue Buttercup.

* ''[[Spartacus]]''. The phrase is not uttered, but all of the surrendered slaves are crucified (except for the Hero and his [[The Lancer|second in command]], who are ordered to fight to the death to see which one of them ''doesn't'' face the grislier execution).

* In ''[[Star Wars]] Episode I'', upon being told that the Gungans were massing for battle, Darth Sidious orders the Trade Federation to "Wipe them out. ''All'' of them."

** Episode III has the same guy ordering the newly christened Darth Vader to wipe out Viceroy Gunray and the other Separatist leaders.

** Although the earlier instances are contradicted by the later and more consistent representation of Klingons as [[Proud Warrior Race]] guys who consider being taken prisoner a fate worse than death. Death in combat is a notably DESIRABLE thing for a Klingon Warrior, such that any who do not fall IN BATTLE must have a victory won in their name in order to enter the Klingon Heaven (<s>Valhalla</s> Sto-Vo-Kor). Given all that, it seems unlikely they would engage in such "dishonorable" conduct as TAKING prisoners.

** Or Kirk was just being dramatic.

* The same occurs with German soldiers in ''[[Film/Defiance|Defiance]]''.

* In ''[[Animal House]]'', while wrecking the parade, Bluto shouts "Take no prisoners!"

** Strangely enough, the commander of the base is in charge of NEST in the sequel.

* ''[[It Happened Here]]'' ends with [[La Résistance]] massacring captured members of the British SS, as part of its [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|deconstruction of heroic resistance tropes]].

{{quote| '''Griffin''': You are in error, Capture Team. No one survived the shuttle wreck.}}

* ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'': The Viet Minh commander gives this order after defeating a French column during the film's prologue.

* In [[The Dresden Files|Changes]], the Red Court strike teams like to operate this way to send a message to their enemies.

* ''[[The Dark Elf Trilogy]]'' puts this to use by making it completely unspoken. [[Klingon Promotion|Klingon Promotions]] are a cornerstone of drow society: noble houses move up in rank by slaughtering the house above it. However, by their definition of "justice", if even one survivor is left to accuse them, ''their'' house will be exterminated as punishment. So there's no need for those in command to order their soldiers to kill anything that moves and then comb the compound afterward for any secret rooms where others may be hiding; [[Lawful Evil|to them, it's just common sense]].

* In the ''[[Confederation of Valor]]'' series, the Others are well known to not take prisoners. Which confuses the characters intensely in ''Valor's Trial'': They're in a POW camp. [[The Reveal]]? {{spoiler|It isn't run by the Others, a.k.a. the Primacy.}}

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

{{quote| '''President John Sheridan:''' Hit-and-run attacks, very efficient. No survivors, no warning.}}

** Minbari policy during the Earth-Minbari War was to destroy any and all combatants, regardless of their ability to fight back or if they surrender.

{{quote| '''Imperious Leader:''' There can be no survivors. [[Kill All Humans|So long as one human remains alive]], the Alliance is threatened.}}

* In ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'', upon having the Cardassians rebel, the female [[Shape Shifter]] gives the order to kill every last one of them. Her only response to being told "That's going to take some time." is "Then I suggest you begin at once." Fortunately, our heroes manage to prevent it being completed (in part because most of the guards at Dominion HQ were sent out to kill Cardassians), but over eight hundred million are still killed during the attempted genocide.

{{quote| '''Kryten:''' At least [[Dreadful Musician|Mr. Lister]]'s guitar survived intact.<br />

(Cat smashes the guitar to smithereens against the wall)<br />

'''Kryten:''' Not even Mr. Lister's guitar survived intact! }}

** Possibly they do take prisoners but they don't ransom them, they keep them and refuse to acknowledge that they do. Certainly Saaviks Vulcan parent was a prisoner as was Tasha Yar.

* There's a heroic version in ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. After repeatedly failing to kill Michael, and now dealing with his latest scheme which has taken control of the city, Sheppard orders the soldiers to give no quarter.

== Music ==

* In the video for [[Lady Gaga|Lady GaGa's]] song "Telephone", featuring [[Beyonce]], the two of them kill off an entire diner full of people. Well, except for their [[Summon Backup Dancers|backup dancers]].

 

 

* Every game that requires the player to eliminate all enemies to advance to the next level/unlock a new area/complete a mission falls into this trope. (Aversions fall under [[Instant Win Condition]].)

* ''[[Command and Conquer]]: Red Alert''

* In ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', [[Monster Clown|Kefka]] gives an order to this effect in one of Terra's flashbacks during a ''training exercise'' (for [[Tyke Bomb|her]], not the helpless [[Red Shirt|troops]] being cut down, but it still comes off as unnecessarily callous).

* The player character in the ''[[Free Space]]'' expansion pack ''Silent Threat'' gets to do this in the first two missions, in order to protect a fragile alliance with an alien race after a friendly fire incident (the second mission: one ship was scripted to escape the first mission, so you went to its destination and killed everything there).

* Drek'Thar gives this order with his buff in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''.

* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' in one of the [[Dawn of War]] Imperial Guard campaigns, you get to witness the fate of captured Chaos Cultists.

* ''[[Dawn of War]] 2'' has "NO MERCY!" amongst the random battle dialogue of the Space Marines. Naturally, there are no mechanics for taking prisoners in the game.

* In [[Patapon]], one of the things your Patapons can say is "Take no prisoners!" (And indeed you're committing [[Waddling Head]] genocide.)

* While not specifically mentioned in the ''[[Total War]]'' series, starting with ''Empire: Total War'', it is no longer possible to take prisoners in battle. In ''Medieval'', ''Rome'', and ''Medieval 2'', any enemy struck from behind was knocked out instead of killed and taken prisoner if you win the battle. You could then free, execute, or attempt to ransom (execution as backup) them back.

** This is probably an aversion, however, since it was about this time that rules about taking prisoners started to be enforced. The likelihood is that the winner ''is'' taking prisoners, but since you have no legal choice about whether to kill them or not it's just being quietly taken care of behind the scenes.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

 

* Arguably the result of any protracted siege in history. The soldiers, after watching their mates getting killed in various horrific fashions over a period of weeks or months, work out their frustrations on the defenders and civilians inside.

* The [[Pirates|Jolly Roger]]. In real life, the Jolly Roger was a ''good'' thing (assuming you were being attacked by pirates), as it meant that the pirates would accept prisoners. However, a blood red flag meant "[[No Quarter]]".

* In [[The Roman Empire|Roman Conflicts]], once the battering ram was deployed, it was the signal that no prisoners would be taken, even as slaves. The ''[[Rome]]'' episode ''The Ram Has Touched The Wall'' explains this.

** To extend the explanation: when a (Roman) army approached a hostile city and the city surrendered before arrival, the city's inhabitants and possessions were sacrosanct, and there would be no (official) looting or pillaging. If the city held out, but surrendered before the siege engines were in place, the citizens who fought (those of fighting age) were taken as slaves and the city looted, but no (official) rape or other destruction would take place. If the siege continued to the full, and the city overrun, the invaders could do as they pleased, and the commanders either looked the other way or actively encouraged their troops. This even applied to Roman cities, such as those on Sicily, after they rebelled. There are accounts of Legionaries who expressed the hope that the city would not surrender, so they could get some good looting and rape in.